Sarah Montague's apology on the Today programme for saying that Father
Christmas was an invention brings into question her own existence.

Sarah Montague has issued a “grovelling apology to parents” after suggesting, during the Today programme on Radio 4, that Father Christmas was an invention. Since she delivered that assertion roughly twelve and a half hours before the customary watershed of 9pm, she has every reason to be sorry. And now, with that matter of fact corrected, we can ask another compelling ontological question – does Sarah Montague exist, or is she merely an invention? We are told that she and her colleagues emerge from their beds at 3am to dispense their verbal gifts, but what proof do we have? They are, to most of us, nothing more than ghosts whose voices interrupt our sleep. Come 9am, there is not even a wisp of white beard in the fireplace to prove they exist. And Miss Montague’s apology via Twitter solves nothing; even Father Christmas tweets – his address, what else, is @santaclaus.